A top 10 ski day at Maplelag late this afternoon. The trail conditions were outstanding! (And with Daylight Savings Time there is an extra hour to enjoy the skiing).

(Glenn Gifford)

Incredible conditions for March 11th. Groomed Roy's Run, Rootin Tootin and Sukkerbusk, setting new track in virgin sugar powder on Rootin Tootin and Roy's Run. Skaters Waltz and Suicide Hill also groomed for skating. Skied late afternoon on tracks set this morning and a few other trails fresh tracked yesterday. One of those afternoons you don't want to get off the trail. The snow was sugary on the bottom but firm tracks and snappy glide. It was cloudy all day until clearing later afternoon with temps below freezing, keeping the snow and grooming intact. Should be another fantastic day tomorrow at least until early afternoon.
We are closed for the season for lodging and services in the lodge but we will continue grooming select trails until the snow is gone. Park in the lot and just ski. Trail hours for day skiing are 8am to 6pm. Ski at own risk. No evacuation or ski patrol services available now.

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(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

We groomed two new trails this morning, Twin Lakes and Mother North Star that we had been saving the snow on from the 6-7" of new snow Monday. Reports from folks hitting the trails were good to fantastic. The other 25km of trail groomed this week has been skiing great as well. The snow is fresh, the temps have been below freezing all week and cloud cover today keeping everything as is, for the most part. For March 10th, the skiing is as good as it gets. We will be back out in the morning grooming two new trails, Rootin Tootin and Roy's Run for close to 40km of groomed trails for Sunday skiing. 30km tracked, 10km groomed skate.

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Maplelag's trails remain in excellent shape. There is snow everywhere. I went out for a short ski before work this morning and enjoyed picture perfect trail conditions with March temperatures...a great combination!

(Glenn Gifford)

Cooled down nicely last night with temp near 0. Feels more like January today but the sunshine is warming and a gorgeous day on the trails. We touched up the 20km of trail today and everything is skiing really nice with the cooler temps. Jonell and I went out for a lunch ski and was about as good as it gets. We won't groom tomorrow with the cooler temps but tomorrow could be the best day of skiing this week! Enjoy!

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(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Trails groomed up nicely this morning. Beautiful winter scenes. We added JibFly to the list of classic trails groomed this morning. Other trails with track set include Sukkerbusk, Sap Run and North Loup. Skaters Waltz combed skate and also skate lane on North Loup. Same trails on tap for grooming Wednesday morning. Intense March sun making snow a bit draggy, should be better in the mornings and late afternoons next few days after the snow matures a bit.

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(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

5-6" of damp new snow. It was a bit too wet to pack and track at first so we waited until the afternoon when the temp dropped to 29-30 degrees. We made 6-8 passes, focusing on 20km of trail. Tomorrow we will be setting track on 10km of trail and combing skate lanes on 10km of trail. We will be focusing on these 20km for skiing this week and possibly groom a few other trails for the weekend.

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(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

We cooled down just enough early morning when the skies cleared, allowing the warm air to escape and the trails to freeze down just a bit. Skaters and select classic trails were groomed at sunrise. The skiing wasn't too fast this morning but sweet spot like from 9am-11am than warmed up and slowed down. Skated mid afternoon and although was a bit slower, the deck was firm and glide was better than expected. We had no rain today. We will be closed Monday-Thursday for rentals and services in the main lodge but open Friday-Sunday. Monday the 11th we are closing for the season for lodge services but will continue grooming and skiing (like we will this week) on select trails until the snow is gone.

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(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

A gorgeous day on the trails. Fun fast skiing in the morning before warming up and getting soft and slow. Classic skied many of the recently groomed trails before lunch and had great results with the skin skis. Bit warmer today than forecasted and taking a while to cool back down even though it is has glazed over as of 9pm. If it cools down enough tonight to groom, we will touch up skate lanes and select classic trails in the early morning. If not, the trails will still be open and there will be some nice skiing to be had. Many north facing sections still have over 2 feet of snow. Once it cools down again, we will resume grooming on 18km of trail for the weeks skiing.

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(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Today was the warmest day this week at 37 but it was also cloudy and there was little if any transition of the snow. Nice skiing all day. Afternoon skate ski with son Jens found silky smooth snow, just a few crunchy spots. Just coming in from the evening groom, structuring all the skate trails, while pulling in some sugar snow from the side. Skaters Extension also groomed this evening, first time since Sunday. Should be fantastic skating before noon tomorrow, classic skiing will be best from 11am to dusk.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)